NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) have selected Indian-American citizen Raja Chari as the commander of the SpaceX crew-3 mission. This mission will go to the international space station.
43-year-old Raja Chari is a colonel in the US Air Force. He will be the commander of the SpaceX Crew-3 mission, while NASA's Tom Marshburn will be the pilot, and ESA's Matthias Maurer will serve as a mission specialist. There is a possibility of this mission going next year.
In a statement on Monday, NASA said that a fourth member will be added to this mission after reviewing international partners.
Raja Chari said in a tweet, "I am excited. It is an honor to train with Tom Marshburn and Matthias Maurer to prepare to go to the space station."
On his Facebook page, he expressed his enthusiasm and happiness about the preparation of this mission.
According to news agency PTI, this will be Raja Chari's first space flight. He joined NASA in 2017.
Since 2017, he has trained at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for two years. He has been involved in 12 trainees of the 22nd class of the year 2017 of NASA's astronaut program.
It consisted of seven men and five women. These 12 people were chosen from a total of 18 thousand 300 candidates. During that time, training was given to fly the aircraft, preparations were made to stay and walk-in space.
In a statement, NASA said that Chari has experience of flying for more than 2,500 hours in his career.
NASA wrote - "He was selected as a member of the Artemis team earlier this month and is now eligible to work for future lunar missions."
The Artemis program is an international manned spacecraft program funded by the US government. The objective of this program is to send "first woman and next man" to the moon by 2024, especially to the south polar region of the moon.
Journey of king chari
Raja Chari will now be the third astronaut of Indian origin to go on a NASA expedition after Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams of Indian origin. Raja Chari also met Sunita Williams in 2012.
Raja Chari was born in Milwaukee City, Wisconsin, and did school in Cedar Falls, Iowa. He then resided in Waterloo City with his wife and children.
Chari earned a bachelor's degree in astronautical engineering from the US Air Force Academy in 1999. After that, he got a Masters degree in Astronautics and Aeronautics from MIT.
He then completed a course from the US Naval Test Pilot School. Raja Chari also received pilot training from the American Air Force Academy.
He has flown US fighter aircraft like F-35, F-15, F-16, F-18. Raja Chari also flew F-15E fighter aircraft during the Iraq War for the US Air Force.
In 2013, Raja Chari tried for NASA for the first time but was not elected at that time.
Family originally from Andhra Pradesh
Raja Chari's family is originally from Andhra Pradesh, India. His grandfather Venkat Chari was a professor of mathematics at Osmania University in Hyderabad.
His father Srinivas Chari came to India from India to study in 1970 and settled in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
He last visited India in 2006. Raja Chari went to attend a Bangalore air show in a team of American fighters with aircraft.
Even before that, he has visited India many times. They like Indian food very much. Raja Chari told the BBC in 2017 that he and his family are eager to taste food in Indian restaurants even in America.
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